SDCC '08 - 'Brave and the Bold' Animated Panel

Producers Sam Register (‘Teen Titans’) and James Tucker (‘Justice League
Unlimited’) hosted a panel at the San Diego Comic-Con on Friday to show off
footage of the upcoming Cartoon Network series ‘Batman: The Brave and the
Bold’.

James Tucker started off the panel by discussing the inspiration behind
Batman’s more kid friendly look, “Right now we have the darkest Batman ever
(referring to the recently released ‘The Dark Knight’ movie). I think it’s a
hard R. So, we decided to go to the left of that.”

Sam Register added, “James said, ‘What if we took the Adam West title
sequence and gave it some balls?” This comment was met with an eruption of
laughter, followed by applause.

James also described classic artist Dick Sprang’s influence on the
character design, “Dick Sprang’s Batman was always moving. His punches were
like ‘POW!’ And that’s the Batman I wanted to do.”

Editor Michael Jelenic described some of the differences between
‘Batman: The Brave and the Bold’ and the more recent incarnations of Batman,
“There’s no Alfred, no Commissioner Gordon. But, we pull in characters from the
DC Universe.”

At this point, a trailer for the new series was shown. The vibrant clip
featured Batman along with Plastic Man, the Blue Beetle, and Green Arrow
fighting various villains.

When they returned, Sam described the process of deciding what direction
to take Batman in by saying, “I think ‘Batman: The Animated Series’ is the
greatest Batman ever made.” Sam continued, “We knew we couldn’t do dark again.
We had to do Batman away from Robin, and anywhere but Gotham.
We know how Batman reacts to Robin. How does he react to the Blue Beetle? How
does he react to the Red Tornado?”

Andrea Romano was quick to point out, “We’re not making Batman a
stand-up comedian. But, he does have a sense of humor.”

When actor Diedrich Bader was asked what it’s like to play Batman,
Diedrich laughed and said, “I wake up every morning and say, ‘I’m Batman.’
Which is good, because in my household I’m Alfred.”

Andrea then took a minute to list some of the voice talent being brought
on board for the series.

James Arnold Taylor
as The Green Arrow

R. Lee Ermey

Tom Kenny as Plastic Man

John Di Maggio as Aquaman

It was at this point that Diedrich joked, “The Penguin will be played by
Dick Cheney.”

When discussing the enemies that were going to be appearing during the
Q&A section, it was said that they would be steering away from the classic
rogue’s gallery and focusing on lesser known villains like Gentleman Ghost,
Kite Man, and Zebra Man.

Other tidbits that were revealed include a crossover with an A-list DC
character that is a ‘fan favorite’.

A certain crazy clown nemesis of Batman will not be making an
appearance. However, the Flash and the Black Canary may be making their
presences known. Also, the Justice League will not be appearing as a group, but
certain members will be making guest appearances (after all, it’s a buddy
show).

The final question gave the crowd the warm fuzzies when a youngster
asked what the new Batmobile can do. He was assured that he wouldn’t be
disappointed.